Reports on Religious Freedom:
Kuwait

(2001)

Islam is the state religion; although the
Constitution provides for freedom of religion, the Government
places some limits on this right. The Constitution also provides
that the State protect the freedom to practice religion in
accordance with established customs, "provided that
it does not conflict with public policy or morals."
The Constitution states that Shari'a (Islamic law) is "a
main source of legislation."

There was some improvement in the status
of respect for religious freedom during the period covered
by this report, particularly for the country's Shi'a. The
Government licensed the construction of three new Shi'a mosques.
It overturned a decision by the municipality of Kuwait to
deny the Government-approved construction of a mosque in
the Al-Qurain area (approval had been pending for 9 years).
The Government also resolved two longstanding Shi'a concerns
by creating a Shi'a appellate court to try family law cases
and approving the creation of a Shi'a charity authority comparable
to the Sunni Awqaf (Ministry of Islamic Affairs) and nongovernmental
entities. The Government prohibits proselytizing of Muslims
and prohibits the naturalization of non-Muslims.

The generally amicable relationship among
religions in society contributed to religious freedom.

The U. S. Government discusses religious
freedom issues with the Government in the context of its
overall dialog and policy of promoting human rights.

Section I. Religious Demography

The country's total land area is 6,880
square miles and its population is 2.2 million. Of the country's
total population, approximately 1.5 million persons are Muslim,
including the vast majority of its 820,000 citizens. The
remainder of the overall population consists of the large
foreign labor force and nearly 100,000 Arabs with residence
ties to Kuwait who claim to have no documentation of their
nationality. The ruling family and many prominent families
belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. The total Sunni Muslim
population is over 1 million, about 525,000 of whom are citizens.
The remaining 30 to 40 percent of Muslim residents (approximately
550,000) are Shi'a, nearly 300,000 of whom are citizens.
Estimates of the nominal Christian population range from
250,000 to 500,000 (including approximately 200 citizens,
most of whom belong to 12 large families).

The Christian community includes the Roman
Catholic Diocese, with 2 churches and an estimated 75,000
members (Maronite Christians also worship at the Catholic
cathedral in Kuwait city); the Anglican (Episcopalian) Church,
with 115 members (several thousand other Christians use the
Anglican Church for worship services); the National Evangelical
Church (Protestant), with 3 main congregations (Arabic, English,
and "Malayalee") and 15,000 members (several other
Christian denominations also worship at the National Evangelical
Church Compound); the Greek Orthodox Church (referred to
locally as the "Roman Orthodox" Church), with 3,500
members; the Armenian Orthodox Church, with 4,000 members;
the Coptic Orthodox Church, with 60,000 members; and the
Greek Catholic (Eastern Rite) Church, whose membership totals
are unavailable.

There are many other unrecognized Christian
denominations in the country, with tens of thousands of members.
These denominations include Seventh-Day Adventists, the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), Marthoma,
and the Indian Orthodox Syrian Church.

There are also members of religions not
sanctioned in the Koran, such as Hindus (100,000 adherents),
Sikhs (10,000), Baha'is (400), and Buddhists (no statistics
available).

There are no available statistics on the
number of atheists.

Missionary groups in the country serve
non-Muslim congregations.

Section II: Status of Religious Freedom

Legal/Policy Framework

Islam is the state religion; although the
Constitution provides for freedom of religion, the Government
places some limits on this right. The Constitution also provides
that the State protect the freedom to practice religion in
accordance with established customs, "provided that
it does not conflict with public policy or morals."
The Constitution states that Shari'a is "a main source
of legislation."

The procedures for registration and licensing
of religious groups are unclear. The Ministry of Awqaf and
Islamic Affairs has official responsibility for overseeing
religious groups. Officially recognized churches must deal
with a variety of government entities, including the Ministry
of Social Affairs and Labor (for visas and residence permits
for pastors and other staff) and the municipality of Kuwait
(for building permits). While there reportedly is no official
government "list" of recognized churches, seven
Christian churches have at least some form of official recognition
that enables them to operate openly. These seven churches
have open "files" at the Ministry of Social Affairs
and Labor, allowing them to bring in the pastors and staff
necessary to operate their churches. Further, by tradition
three of the country's churches are widely recognized as
enjoying "full recognition" by the Government and
are allowed to operate compounds officially designated as
churches: The Catholic Church (both the Roman Catholic Church
and the Maronite Church), the Anglican Church, and the National
Evangelical Protestant Church of Kuwait. The Roman Catholic
Church faces problems of overcrowding at its two official
church facilities. Its cathedral in downtown Kuwait City
regularly draws as many as 100,000 worshippers to its more
than 30 weekly services.

The other four churches reportedly are
allowed to operate openly, hire employees, invite religious
speakers, etc., all without interference from the Government;
however, their compounds are, according to government records,
registered only as private homes. Church officials themselves
appear uncertain about the guidelines or procedures for recognition.
Some have argued that these procedures are purposely kept
vague by the Government so as to maintain the status quo.
No other churches and religions have legal status but they
are allowed to operate in private homes.

The procedures for registration and licensing
of religious groups also appear to be connected with government
restrictions on nongovernmental organizations (NGO's), religious
or otherwise. In 1993 all unlicensed organizations were ordered
by the Council of Ministers to cease their activities. This
order never has been enforced; however, since that time all
but three applications by NGO's have been frozen. There were
reports that in the last few years at least two groups have
applied for permission to build their own churches, but the
Government has not responded to their requests.

Restrictions on Religious Freedom

Shi'a are free to conduct their traditional
forms of worship without government interference; however,
members of the Shi'a community have complained about the
scarcity of Shi'a mosques due to the Government's slow approval
of the construction of new Shi'a mosques and the repair of
existing mosques, or of its failure to approve such construction
or repair at all. The community was particularly critical
in May 2000 when the municipality of Kuwait rejected a 9-year-old
petition for construction of a Shi'a mosque in the Al-Qurain
area. Although the municipality apparently relented due to
direct government intervention, there still are complaints
about the lack of sufficient Shi'a mosques. (There are approximately
30 Shi'a mosques compared with the 1,300 Sunni mosques in
the country.) During the period covered by the report, the
Government began to address such concerns by approving the
construction of three new Shi'a mosques. The Government resolved
two other longstanding Shi'a concerns by creating a Shi'a
appellate court to try family law cases (Shi'a and Sunni
family law differ in some details) and by approving the creation
of a Shia charity authority comparable to the Sunni Awqaf
(which formerly controlled all government and private donations
to religious charities).

Shi'a leaders also have complained that
Shi'a who aspire to serve as imams are forced to seek appropriate
training and education abroad due to the lack of Shi'a jurisprudence
courses at Kuwait University's College of Islamic Law, which
only offers Sunni jurisprudence. However, to address this
longstanding concern the Ministry of Education currently
is reviewing an application to establish a private college
to train Shi'a clerics within the country. If approved the
new college could reduce Shi'a dependence on foreign study,
particularly in Iran, for the training of Shi'a clerics.
Shi'a reportedly no longer express concern that certain pending
proposed legislation within the National Assembly does not
take beliefs specific to the Shi'a into account.

The Roman Catholic, Anglican, National
Evangelical, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox,
and Greek Catholic Churches operate freely on their compounds,
holding worship services without government interference.
These leaders also state that the Government generally has
been supportive of their presence, even providing police
security and traffic control as needed. Other Christian denominations
(including Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, Marthoma, and
Indian Orthodox), while not recognized legally, are allowed
to operate in private homes or in the facilities of recognized
churches. Members of these congregations have reported that
they are able to worship without government interference,
provided that they do not disturb their neighbors and do
not violate laws regarding assembly and proselytizing.

Members of religions not sanctioned in
the Koran, such as Hindus and Buddhists, may not build places
of worship, but are allowed to worship privately in their
homes without interference from the Government.

The Government prohibits missionaries from
proselytizing to Muslims; however, they may serve non-Muslim
congregations. The law prohibits organized religious education
for religions other than Islam, although this law is not
enforced rigidly. Informal religious instruction occurs inside
private homes and on church compounds without government
interference. However, there were reports that government
inspectors from the Awqaf Ministry periodically visit public
and private schools outside of church compounds to ensure
that religious teaching other than Islam does not takes place.
The Roman Catholic Church has requested that Catholic students
be allowed to study the catechism separately during the period
in which Muslim students receive mandatory instruction in
Islam. The Government did not respond to the request during
the period covered by this report.

The Government does not permit the establishment
of non-Islamic publishing companies or training institutions
for clergy. Nevertheless, several churches do publish religious
materials for use solely by their congregations. Further,
some churches, in the privacy of their compounds, provide
informal instruction to individuals interested in joining
the clergy.

A private company, the Book House Company
Ltd., is permitted to import a significant number of Bibles
and other Christian religious material--including, as of
early 2000, videotapes and compact discs--for use solely
among the congregations of the country's recognized churches.
The Book House Company is the only bookstore that has an
import license to bring in such materials, which also must
be approved by government censors. There have been reports
of private citizens having non-Islamic religious materials
confiscated by customs officials upon arrival at the airport.

Although there is a small community of
Christian citizens, a law passed in 1980 prohibits the naturalization
of non-Muslims. However, citizens who were Christians before
1980 (and children born to families of such citizens since
that date) are allowed to transmit their citizenship to their
children.

According to the law, a non-Muslim male
must convert to Islam when he marries a Muslim woman if the
wedding is to be legal in the country. A non-Muslim female
does not have to convert to Islam to marry a Muslim male,
but it is to her advantage to do so. Failure to convert may
mean that, should the couple later divorce, the Muslim father
would be granted custody of any children.

Women continue to experience legal and
social discrimination. In the family courts, one man's testimony
is sometimes given the same weight as the testimony of two
women; however, in the civil, criminal, and administrative
courts, the testimony of women and men is considered equally.
Unmarried women 21 years old and over are free to obtain
a passport and travel abroad at any time. However, married
women who apply for passports must obtain their husbands'
signature on the application form. Once she has a passport,
a married woman does not need her husband's permission to
travel, but he may prevent her departure from the country
by contacting the immigration authorities and placing a 24-hour
travel ban on her. After this 24-hour period, a court order
is required if the husband still wishes to prevent his wife
from leaving the country. All minor children must have their
father's permission to travel outside of the country.

Inheritance is governed by Islamic law,
which differs according to the branch of Islam. In the absence
of a direct male heir, Shi'a women may inherit all property,
while Sunni women inherit only a portion, with the balance
divided among brothers, uncles, and male cousins of the deceased.

The joint interministerial committee formed
by the Government in 2000 to study ways to control extremist
groups reported no findings during the period covered by
this report.

The law requires jail terms for journalists
who ridicule religion. In the period covered by this report,
Islamists used this law to threaten writers with prosecution
for publishing opinions deemed insufficiently observant of
Islamic norms. However, there were no instances in the period
covered by this report of religiously based prosecutions
of authors or journalists. In January 2000, the Court of
Misdemeanors found two female authors, Alia Shuaib and Leila
Al-Othman, guilty of writing books that were blasphemous
and obscene. Shuaib and Al-Othman were sentenced to 2 months
in prison which could be suspended upon payment of a $160
(50 Kuwaiti dinars) fine. In March 2000, an appeals court
acquitted Shuaib of the charges of blasphemy and publishing
works that ridicule religion. Al-Othman's conviction of using
indecent language was upheld. The court's judgments represented
the latest in a series of cases brought by Islamists against
secular authors. The court did not provide explanations for
its rulings.

A Vatican mission, headed by a Charge d'Affaires,
has been established in the country to represent Vatican
interests in the Gulf states and Yemen. The Charge d'Affaires
moved into permanent offices during the period covered in
this report. The Catholic Church views the Government's acquiescence
to establish relations with the Vatican as significant in
terms of government tolerance of Christianity.

There were no reports of religious prisoners
or detainees.

Forced Religious Conversion

There were no reports of forced religious
conversion, including of minor U.S. citizens who had been
abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or
of the Government's refusal to allow such citizens to be
returned to the United States. There have been cases in which
U.S. citizen children have been abducted from the United
States and not allowed to return (under the law, the father
receives custody in such cases, and his permission is required
for the children to leave the country); however, there were
no reports that such children were forced to convert to Islam,
or that forced conversion was the reason that they were not
allowed to return.

Improvements and Positive Developments
in Respect For Religious Freedom

The overall situation for Shi'a improved
during the period covered by this report. The Government
licensed the construction of three new mosques. It also overturned
a decision by the municipality of Kuwait to deny the government-approved
construction of a mosque in the Al-Qurain area. In addition
the Government took steps toward greater equality for Shi'a
by creating a distinct appellate court to try Shi'a family
law cases and by agreeing to establish an independent Shi'a
charity authority to manage Shi'a donations.

Section III. Societal Attitudes

In general, there are amicable relations
among the various religions, and citizens generally are open
and tolerant of other religions. While there is a small minority
of ultraconservatives opposed to the presence of non-Muslim
groups, there were no new reports of vandalism or other actions
against the country's Christian churches during the period
covered by this report.

In April 2000, the Government arrested
seven men for allegedly beating a 19-year-old woman for not
wearing a "hijab" (head scarf). The Government
acted quickly in bringing the seven men to trial, criticizing
the assault as a vigilante action by extremists. The case
prompted a lively debate in society and the press. Most citizens
expressed outrage, viewing the attack as a direct assault
on their personal freedoms, while Islamists urged against
making hasty judgments. Conflicting versions of what exactly
occurred and the motives involved emerged during the trial,
and the criminal court acquitted all seven accused men in
June, finding that there was insufficient evidence to convict
them. In November 2000, the Court of Appeals overturned the
acquittal of five of the seven men, and sentenced four to
1 year in prison and $6,000 (2,000 dinars) each in compensatory
damages. The fifth man was ordered to pay $3,000 (1,000 dinars)
with no jail term.

Also in April 2000, unidentified gunmen
fired shots at a "husseiniya" (religious meeting
place for Shi'a). Although the identities of the assailants
were never determined, the incident contributed to a perception
by some that extremists (the presumed attackers) are becoming
increasingly disruptive to society. There were no reports
of such shootings during the period covered by this report.

While some discrimination based on religion
reportedly occurs on a personal level, most observers agree
that it is not widespread. There is a perception among some
domestic employees and other members of the unskilled labor
force, particularly nationals of Southeast Asian countries,
that they would receive better treatment from employers as
well as society as a whole if they converted to Islam. However,
others do not see conversion to Islam as a factor in this
regard.

The conversion of Muslims to other religions
is a very sensitive matter. While it is reported that such
conversions have occurred, they have been done quietly and
discreetly. Muslim conversions that become public are likely
to cause hostility within society, as demonstrated by a 1996
case in which the convert received death threats.

Section IV. U.S. Government Policy

The Embassy discusses religious freedom
issues with the Government in the overall context of the
promotion of human rights.

U.S. Embassy officials frequently meet
with representatives from Sunni, Shi'a, and various Christian
groups. Intensive monitoring of religious issues has long
been an embassy priority. Embassy officers have met with
most of the leaders of the country's recognized Christian
churches, as well as representatives of various unrecognized
faiths. Such meetings have afforded embassy officials the
opportunity to learn the status and concerns of these groups.